Max Verstappen delivers ominous warning to rivals after clinching 'surprise' Bahrain GP pole

Bahrain Grand Prix

Verstappen delivers ominous warning to rivals after clinching 'surprise' Bahrain GP pole

Verstappen overcame practice troubles to take the first pole position of the season

Ewan Gale

Saturday 4 March 2023 17:34 Updated: 22:11

Max Verstappen has fired rivals an ominous warning over Red Bull's race pace after securing what he described as a 'surprise' pole position for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The Dutchman overcame the threats posed by Ferrari and Aston Martin to head team-mate Sergio Perez in a Red Bull one-two.

This was after Verstappen had complained of grip and 'jumping' issues within his RB19 throughout practice.

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The two-time champion's nearest challenger other than his team-mate was Charles Leclerc, who saved a set of soft tyres by running only once in Q3 and eventually finished 0.292secs adrift, but Leclerc decided to sacrifice a run at pole to save his tyres and will start third. READ MORE: Red Bull dominate qualifying as Verstappen takes first pole of season

Max Verstappen's car on track in Bahrain

"It has been a bit of a tough start to the weekend, not really finding my rhythm but in qualifying, we managed to put the best pieces together and really happy to be on pole and for the whole team, coming off last year, having such a strong car with Checo up there as well, it is amazing," said Verstappen.

"I am looking forward to tomorrow."

"I am positively surprised to be on pole after the struggles I had in practice.

"That's positive and normally our race car is better so let's see."

Verstappen points to 'beautiful thing about F1'

Despite being an evolution rather than a revolution this season, cars have altered slightly with regulation changes targeted at the floor costing teams performance.

Despite this, Red Bull remains firmly in control at the top and referring to the changes, Verstappen explained: "I think compared to last year, everyone knows a bit more what they are doing with the car.

"So I think you already start off better and more competitive.

"The changes slowed down the car a bit but we are still going faster. That is a great thing to see.

"Throughout the year you will see everyone increasing their performance a lot, that is the beautiful thing about F1."